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I was like a kid with a new favorite candy that I couldn’t stop eating.
I lost myself in so many theories as to what the hell was going on, that by the time I pulled myself from the crowded corridors of my mind, the plane had already landed in the Maldives. My stewardess shook my shoulder softly before presenting me with a kind smile that pulled me to my feet, and the exhaustive snoring coming from the back of my jet forced my eyes into the back of my head.
“Eden!” I barked.
She jerked awake as I pulled my luggage out of the overhead bin. “Huh? What? What’s going on?”
I yanked my rolling suitcase down to the ground. “We’re here. Get your things. We’re heading straight to the hut.”
She paused. “The what?”
As we made our way off the jet and into the car that I had rented for us, I drove us through the narrow, winding streets of the island upon which we had descended. The tourist season was beginning to dwindle, which meant the streets were much emptier than normal, and that crooked a grin across my face. I hated this place when it was crowded. Too many people poking around and listening to things they had no business listening to. And as we passed by little shops that were about to close their doors for the island’s conglomerate lunch hour, I pulled off onto a sandy road that led us away from all of the noisy resorts.
Before we cruised along the edge of the sand that backed up to the palm trees that separated my stretch of beach from the rest of the world.
“Where are we going?” Eden asked.
I didn’t bother answering her stupid question as my private cabana came into sight.
“Is that yours?” she asked.
I drew in a deep breath. “For a lawyer, you ask really stupid questions.”
“There’s no stupid question in my line of work, and I figured with your line of work you’d feel the same way.”
“Not particularly.”
Her scoff was followed by the shaking of her head, but it didn’t bother me. There was nothing she could do or say to ruin this place for me. We were completely isolated out here. There wasn’t a cabana or a restaurant or a shop for at least two miles, especially since I owned both the air rights and the beach rights for those two miles in every direction, and it always gave me an odd sense of peace, being in this place.
Being out over the crystal-clear waters.
Swimming naked without a care in the world.
Eating dinner out on the back porch while watching the sun set.
This place was my safe haven. My soul’s home. The place where I’d retire once I got to a point where I didn’t care about the people who came to me with the passion to have their greatest public woes erased.
And as I parked our rental right near the ramp up toward the front door, Eden shoved herself out.
“Finally, a bit of space,” she said flatly.
I sat back and watched her step out into the sand. She cursed beneath her breath before reaching down to take off her heels. I grinned to myself as she grew frustrated with the soft sand beneath her feet. She tripped and stumbled her way over to the ramp, catching herself against the wooden railing.
But the second her gaze turned toward the ocean, she paused.
“There it is,” I whispered.
Her jaw dropped and her eyes locked with the watery horizon as I eased my way out of the car. I walked around to the trunk and heaved our suitcases out of the back just so I could get them inside in one trip. I wanted a stiff drink, a nice smoke, and a moment’s peace out on the back porch. But, as I made my way inside, Eden descended below the stilted cabana.
Enraptured by the view in front of her.
I decided to give her some space to digest and take it all in. After all, I always needed a few moments myself. I dropped our shit into the entry hallway before heading straight to the living room, my eyes locking with the globe in the corner. I depressed the button on top and listened as it groaned to life. The mechanisms within the globe clinked and creaked, popping the lid open and twisting up an ice cold, gold-rimmed whiskey glass. I plucked it from its home and reached for the aged whiskey I kept here specifically to enjoy with the sunsets.
But I figured an afternoon drink wouldn’t hurt.
“Dominik?” Eden called out.
“Out on the porch,” I said as I threw the French double doors open.
